• Notes from A.R Gurney

    Updated: 2011-02-22 10:51:17
    I was re-reading A.R Gurney’s terrific piece ‘Love Letters’ and found myself at the back of the play, reading his Do’s and Dont’s for Producing Love Letters. I won’t reproduce the whole list, but the last two are worth repeating and considering for all actors: 7. Avoid crying. Let the audience do the crying, if [...]

  • Really Doing Stuff – Part 1 – Tactics

    Updated: 2011-02-18 10:05:41
    I’m moving house again today for the…21st time in my life, so today’s a guest blog from my assistant, acting coach Ian Watt: I’m an old guy. They say you can’t teach me new tricks. My attention span grows shorter day by… And truthfully – little startles or ignites my sense of wonder anymore. I’ve [...]

  • Confidence Tricks

    Updated: 2011-02-17 00:00:37
    A while back I had a student drop out of class. This in itself is not worrying, there are a range of reasons why people cannot commit to a regular class. But this time, I was really intrigued by it. When people say that they come to class to gain or grow in confidence, I [...]

  • Historical Portaiture

    Updated: 2011-02-16 10:15:10
    I’m thinking about Christian Bale, an untrained actor you might have heard of… apparently he spent two months with the real guy he was meant to be portraying in the film The Fighter, and he is commended by the acting fraternity for ‘dedication’ and ‘commitment’ and other platitudes. But I was thinking about this, is [...]

  • Anticipation

    Updated: 2011-02-14 10:00:55
    Congratulating ourselves a little bit today, this is our 401st blog, more thank a book! Go us! And now that’s over… Today’s blog is on the topic of Anticipation, a deadly lurking trap that many actors fall into and fore-warned is fore-armed and all that. The problem of anticipation is a simple one, you pretty [...]

  • Guest Blog with Karli Evans – The Perfect Spinal Roll

    Updated: 2011-02-12 01:05:33
    Roll Downs: (For lengthening the spine. Thinking about the spine moving bone by bone.) - Start standing with your feet hip distance apart and parallel. - ACTION: - Inhale to prepare and lengthen through the spine, release the head and the neck. - Exhale and stabilize through the deep abdominals, lengthen through the back of [...]

  • Message to an Actor

    Updated: 2011-02-11 10:00:46
    Dear Actor Well, you’ve come along way. I can barely recognise you since you came into my studio, full of tension and a little suspicion. You wanted to test me, but you also wanted to be respectful. You’d had a lot of pick and mix training and this may have been your last hope for [...]

  • Didn’t Get Into Drama School. Now What?

    Updated: 2011-02-10 10:00:20
    You practiced your monologues.  You turn up early and gave it 100%, but despite that, you didn’t make it through the rounds.  You’re disappointed, and rightly so, you’ve set your heart on a career in acting and you’ve been rejected. So now what?  Well, I’d say apply again next year, fill this year with experience, [...]

  • A Guest Blog from Ben Hopkin – LA Acting Coach

    Updated: 2011-02-09 10:00:01
    The ABC’s of Acting.  Well, Kind of… This guest blogging thing is always fun.  Especially while writing for someone in the same artistic discipline.  Many random thoughts run through one’s mind, including bon mots like, I hope we’re both on the same page or Please don’t let me look stupid or Should I include my [...]

  • Message to an Actress

    Updated: 2011-02-08 10:00:15
    Dear Actress When I first met you, you were confident, hard working and diligent and that hasn’t changed.  But you were fake, your acting style was pretend, showy, amateurish.  Sadly you didn’t even know this because you had been told all your life what a good actress you were.  So, when you first heard my [...]

  • T.V, or not T.V. That is the question.

    Updated: 2011-02-01 22:15:37
    Well, hello actors! Leeann Dearing again. (Oh by the way, notice the new headshot? That’s the handy-work of Byron Medina! Love him and his magical camera.) Been thinking today about the differences between film and theater acting, and I think it’s worth a blog entry! Film acting looks so effortless, but make no mistake about [...]

  • Compromising Our Ideals

    Updated: 2011-02-01 10:05:02
    The actor’s got to eat, that’s the bottom line in the end, isn’t it? How many compromises of character has this good but flawed philosophy caused? The advert for the ambulance chaser? The less-than-equity job that should have put the actor’s first, the educational show which insulted your intelligence and the kids? The show/film with [...]

Current Feed Items | Previous Months Items

Jan 2011 | Dec 2010 | Nov 2010 | Oct 2010 | Sep 2010 | Aug 2010